Once those games kick off, however, Taggart will take control of the offense.

“Game day, I call the plays,” Taggart said.

Taggart understands offense. He played quarterback at Western Kentucky before rising through the Hilltoppers coaching staff to offensive coordinator, then head coach.

As head coach Taggart called the plays at WKU, South Florida and Oregon before relinquishing those duties to offensive coordinator Walt Bell midway through his first season at FSU. Former FAU offensive coordinator Kendal Briles called the plays for FSU last season after replacing Bell on the staff, through some media reports state that Taggart began assuming more of those duties as the season progressed.

“I think Clint is a good, young up-and-coming coach that understands the game, has played the game at the highest level and he does well with his players from a teaching standpoint, and can motivate his players,” Taggart said. “I think he has a bright future ahead of him.”

Taggart isn’t concerned about managing a dynamic that potentially places three coaches in charge of developing the offense, cautioning against obsessing over titles.

“Throughout the week our guys do a good job of putting the game plan together,” Taggart said. “We all do it together, basically.”

When Taggart takes control on Saturdays he’ll still be relying on his assistants.

“You’re calling plays but you’re also listening for suggestions and sometimes when you ask the coaches, you ask for suggestions as you’re calling plays,” Taggart said. “That’s part of it. That’s part of working together throughout the week to make sure you’re on the same page.”

Making the Calls

After delegating play-calling duties to his offensive coordinator at FSU, Willie Taggart plans to call the plays at FAU.

BOCA RATON – First year FAU football coach Willie Taggart disputes the notion that his teams lack discipline.

“I don’t think anybody that knows me and has been around me can think that there’s a lack of discipline anywhere I’ve been,” Taggart said.

Florida St. fired Taggart nine games into last season following a 27-10 loss to Miami during which his Seminoles committed 10 penalties.

At that point in the season, Taggart’s second at FSU, only four teams nationally committed more than the 8.9 per game the Seminoles averaged.

That actually marked an improvement from Taggart’s first season, when FSU averaged 9.3 per game – worst in the nation.

Prior to moving to FSU, Taggart spent one season at Oregon. The Ducks’ 9.1 penalties per game in that 2017 season ranked second-worst nationally. The following year under Mario Cristobal Oregon cut its penalty average nearly in half, committing 5.0 per game, ranking No. 34.

Following Taggart’s firing some FSU players griped about the lack of discipline within the program.

In January on the Ball and Life podcast former FSU wide receiver Keith Gavin described a drastic cultural difference between Taggart’s teams and those of previous FSU coach Jimbo Fischer.

“It was like the standards and everything were gone,” Gavin said on the podcast. “It was really like ‘everyone just have fun’ and I didn’t really come to college to just have fun.”

Taggart says criticisms always arise after coaches are relieved of their duties.

“Usually when you leave a place there are all kinds of reports of this and that, but that wasn’t an issue while I was there,” Taggart said.

Hired in December, Taggart has already taken several disciplinary steps as FAU’s coach. A handful of players with academic issues, headlined by second-team All-Conference USA linebacker Keke Leroy, have been removed from the roster and weren’t expected to participate in spring practice as they focused their attention on improving their academic standing.

“Our guys are going to be held accountable for what they said they were going to do when they decided to come to our school, academically, football and socially,” Taggart said. “I think anybody that knows me and has worked with me, they know that’s a big part of who I am and what I do. I do think that’s a big part of being successful – having a disciplined football team.”

Discipline Promised

First-year FAU coach Willie Taggart refutes claims that his teams lack discipline, promises Owls will act properly on and off the field.

Trying to make the best of their COVID-19 induced isolation, the Owls are spending four hours per week on the video conference platform Zoom. Players spend two hours learning their new schemes and two more hours receiving position-centric coaching.

“That gives us some time for our individual coaches to also get with our players on Zoom individually or by position and also academically make sure our guys are on top of it,” Taggart said.

Every football program nationally is struggling to find ways to make this spring as close to normal as possible, but the current set of challenges are amplified for first-year coaches like Taggart who are still trying to assess their new teams.

“You don’t get to see your guys actually go out and do the football part of it, where you get a great evaluation of your football team,” Taggart said. “Whenever you are taking over a program you really don’t know what you have until you get on the football field, and go through the meetings, and get on the field and see how much your guys can retain and actually go out and execute, and you have a better feel for your team.”

The process hasn’t exactly been smooth. Taggart noted that some players don’t have computers of their own to connect to the conferencing. Others lack high speed internet access.

FAU has sent some players computers to allow them follow along.

Taggart and his coaches contact some players via Facetime or other apps when they can. They also help players locate safe internet access.

“You just try to find different ways,” Taggart said.

The lack of computers or access is more than a football problem.

Players need to complete their spring academic work. Where Taggart and his staff once met with the program’s academic advisers weekly, they are now meeting twice each week.

“Some guys are good learning on the video and some guys are good learning there on the board in person,” Taggart said. “I thing that’s one thing that kind of hurts being away right now is understanding our players a little better, understanding how they learn. Some guys are different than others. Usually you figure some of those things out during spring ball. Unfortunately we don’t have that now.”

Like most everyone trying to make the best of a sick situation, Taggart doesn’t have any insight into when football practice, or the season for that matter, can begin.

Some athletic directors have privately discussed the ramifications of potentially delaying the start of the football season to the spring semester.

Until recently, Taggart had never considered a fall absent of football.

Now he wonders whether the coronavirus is the Grinch in disguise.

“I still can’t get a grasp on what this country would be like without football,” Taggart said. “It’s America’s sport. Everybody gets excited when football comes around. It’s like Christmas.”

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